NOTE: I am not an expert in any of the things I talk about on here, these are just my own thoughts. If I've made a huge mistake anywhere just let me know.
I recently went to see the film Elysium, which for a futuristic dystopia film in a recent flood of futuristic dystopia films really was quite good; the attention to detail was fantastic, it was refreshing to see Jodi Foster as the bad guy, and they wove together the different thoughts of the rich and poor citizens perfectly.
However, there reached a point in the film when I realised I was bracing myself. The renegade bounty hunters had taken the protagonist's girlfriend hostage, and I was waiting - because I knew exactly what was coming.
There is a trend in sci-fi films that has repeated so often lately that it might even be a trope. It goes something like this:
Oh.
The psychotic Kruger, leader of the renegades, starts on the familiar routine almost as soon as he's next to Frey.
I thought it couldn't get worse, but later in the film one of the bandits again tries to rape her.
To be honest, I didn't think it was that much of a pattern until I started thinking about it; I remembered my dad - a fifty year old man who has disagreed with me in the past on feminist things - fast-forwarding awkwardly through an extended rape attempt scene in Book of Eli because I was visibly uncomfortable and it was making him uncomfortable. The same thing happened with an episode of 24, Dredd...
What I'm not saying is that rape should never ever be depicted in any media because it's wrong/no-one wants to watch it etc. For me, there are a two key points that are flying past both audience and writer thanks to the way it currently goes down, and I'd like to try and outline them here.
1) Not all rapists are the scary bad guy stranger
The first point of the Rape Crisis: Myths page has, in highlighted letters, that 90% of rapists are men known to the woman. However, in every one of these sci-fi dystopia situations, a woman is attacked by some evil strangers. Every time. Usually so she can be rescued by her boyfriend.
2) It's lazy, and pretty sexist
(We're going to have to detach from emotion a bit here, so give me a bit of leeway.)
In Elysium, Matt Damon's character was electrocuted, beaten, forced into crime, given radiation poisoning, forced to become half-robot, had things shoved into his brain, contracted a computer virus, and had a one-on-one fight with the psycho bad guy, and that's just what I can remember. Frey was nearly raped. Do you see the difference? Rape is used as the ultimate threat for a woman, which is bizarre; it almost seems like these writers don't want their women to get in fights, so this is the only option. I would much rather see a woman try to kick some ass and fail hideously, I'd rather see a woman threatened with electrocution like the other guys, I'd rather see her covered in blood and losing a finger, anything as gruesomely complex as the men.
Again, I'm not saying that rape should never be depicted at all (or that I want to see women tortured - it's more that I don't want to see them raped), but it's only ever used against cowering women who don't stand a chance unless someone turns up and saves them. When was the last time you saw the same tactics being used against a male character? I'm more than certain the threat would have the same potency, that is would be just as uncomfortable, but it never ever happens.
I'm mostly fed up of going to see films in a genre I love and being treated to some unexpected sexual violence; I'd love to see Elysium again, but I'll have to wait, now, until it retails and I have my own copy I can fast forward.
I recently went to see the film Elysium, which for a futuristic dystopia film in a recent flood of futuristic dystopia films really was quite good; the attention to detail was fantastic, it was refreshing to see Jodi Foster as the bad guy, and they wove together the different thoughts of the rich and poor citizens perfectly.
However, there reached a point in the film when I realised I was bracing myself. The renegade bounty hunters had taken the protagonist's girlfriend hostage, and I was waiting - because I knew exactly what was coming.
There is a trend in sci-fi films that has repeated so often lately that it might even be a trope. It goes something like this:
Bad guys kidnap girl.This is how I found myself in the cinema the second poor Frey was loaded into an aircraft. I felt stupid, because how could I possibly know it's going to happen? I'm overreacting, it won't happen, it doesn't always happ--
Bad guy leader make explicit threats at girl.
Bad guy leader makes girl as uncomfortable as possible with sexual aggression.
Bad guy leader hands girl over to bandits.
Bandits attempt to rape girl.
Oh.
The psychotic Kruger, leader of the renegades, starts on the familiar routine almost as soon as he's next to Frey.
I thought it couldn't get worse, but later in the film one of the bandits again tries to rape her.
To be honest, I didn't think it was that much of a pattern until I started thinking about it; I remembered my dad - a fifty year old man who has disagreed with me in the past on feminist things - fast-forwarding awkwardly through an extended rape attempt scene in Book of Eli because I was visibly uncomfortable and it was making him uncomfortable. The same thing happened with an episode of 24, Dredd...
What I'm not saying is that rape should never ever be depicted in any media because it's wrong/no-one wants to watch it etc. For me, there are a two key points that are flying past both audience and writer thanks to the way it currently goes down, and I'd like to try and outline them here.
1) Not all rapists are the scary bad guy stranger
The first point of the Rape Crisis: Myths page has, in highlighted letters, that 90% of rapists are men known to the woman. However, in every one of these sci-fi dystopia situations, a woman is attacked by some evil strangers. Every time. Usually so she can be rescued by her boyfriend.
2) It's lazy, and pretty sexist
(We're going to have to detach from emotion a bit here, so give me a bit of leeway.)
In Elysium, Matt Damon's character was electrocuted, beaten, forced into crime, given radiation poisoning, forced to become half-robot, had things shoved into his brain, contracted a computer virus, and had a one-on-one fight with the psycho bad guy, and that's just what I can remember. Frey was nearly raped. Do you see the difference? Rape is used as the ultimate threat for a woman, which is bizarre; it almost seems like these writers don't want their women to get in fights, so this is the only option. I would much rather see a woman try to kick some ass and fail hideously, I'd rather see a woman threatened with electrocution like the other guys, I'd rather see her covered in blood and losing a finger, anything as gruesomely complex as the men.
Again, I'm not saying that rape should never be depicted at all (or that I want to see women tortured - it's more that I don't want to see them raped), but it's only ever used against cowering women who don't stand a chance unless someone turns up and saves them. When was the last time you saw the same tactics being used against a male character? I'm more than certain the threat would have the same potency, that is would be just as uncomfortable, but it never ever happens.
I'm mostly fed up of going to see films in a genre I love and being treated to some unexpected sexual violence; I'd love to see Elysium again, but I'll have to wait, now, until it retails and I have my own copy I can fast forward.
